High stress takes a toll on all of us, but you don’t have to live with it. Improve your health 
and increase your happiness with these simple lifestyle tips.
Improving your health does not have to be complicated. There are many little things you can do to help improve your weight, energy, sleep, mood, and brain power, and to also decrease stress.
Here are some easy recommendations for those looking to improve their health one day at a time.
1. Warm Water and Lemon
Start the day with a cup of warm water and lemon to boost your immune system, improve digestion, cleanse the liver and gallbladder, and hydrate the body.
2. Warm Baths
Take a warm bath at least once a week. Add some Epsom salt, sea salt, lavender, or ylang ylang essential oils to the bath water to help with further relaxation.
3. Slow Down
Chew your foods well, and eat in a calm environment. Relax and take a few deep breaths before eating your meals. Make sure you are relaxed and not rushing when you’re eating.
4. Stretch or Yoga
Do some simple yoga postures each morning. Stretching can have a positive effect that can last throughout the day. Stretching and yoga can help keep you limber and injury free.
5. Relax and Unwind
Close your eyes and try some deep breathing or meditating. All it takes is as little as fifteen minutes of deep breathing or meditation to have profound effects on releasing tension and promoting inner peace.
6. Write in a Journal
Write five to ten things that you’re grateful for. Keep an ongoing gratitude journal and go through the day simply acknowledging the good stuff in life. List what you are grateful for, people you are thankful for, the best part of your day, or something equivalent.
7. Set Goals
Write out your goals and how you plan to achieve them. Writing out your goals increases your ability to achieve them and, as a result, helps boost your confidence and self-esteem.
8. Dry Skin Brush
Dry skin brushing stimulates your lymphatic and circulatory systems. It helps improve your skin’s ability to eliminate toxins. Skin brushing is best done before a shower or before going to bed.
9. Hot and Cold Showers
Alternate one minute of hot water with one minute of cold. Do three to five rotations. Make sure to end with the cold water. This helps increase your metabolism, circulation, and detoxification.
10. Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate
Over 70% of your body is made of water. Many aches and pains are the result of dehydration in the body. Drink at least one to two liters of water every day to help flush out the kidneys and remove toxins from the body.
11. Exercise
Simple exercise maintains your weight, improves your cardiovascular system, and feels good.
12. Sleep
In the evening, dim the lights, and light some candles or essential oils. Engage in relaxing activities such as taking a warm bath, reading, or listening to soothing music or guided mediations instead of watching television. Go to sleep at the same time every night. Make sure to get seven to eight hours of sleep. Purchase a blackout blind to eliminate all lighting in your bedroom to maximize melatonin while sleeping, the darker the better.
13. Upset Stomach
If you have an upset tummy from time to time or feel bloated, try drinking fennel, ginger tea, or slippery elm tea to ease the discomfort.
14. Raw and Living Foods
Consume more raw and living foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, whole sprouted grains, nuts and seeds, and fermented foods like miso and sauerkraut.
15. Infrared Sauna
Treat yourself to a far infrared sauna. They are great for detoxification, weight loss, and reducing pain and stimulating healing.
16. Use a Rebounder
Rebounding is known for draining the lymphatic system and improving circulation. It also stimulates removal of toxins from the skin and improves the look of the skin and the body.
17. Add Omega 3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet
Flax and hemp are the best plant sources of omega 3 fatty acids. Essential fatty acids play many important roles in the body such as hormone regulation. They stimulate the metabolism, help reduce anxiety and depression, improve the quality of your hair, skin, and nails, strengthen the immune system, combat inflammation that can cause pain, and support mental functioning.
18. Magnesium
A little magnesium goes a long way. Magnesium before bed relieves tense muscles, calms nerves, and helps the body fall asleep.
19. Increase the Variety of Foods in Your Diet
The broader the range of colors of foods that you eat, the more varied nutrients you are consuming. Commit to trying a new food weekly or monthly. Increase intake of fresh fruit and vegetables. Rotate your fruits and try new fruits you have never tried before. Eat a wide assortment of vegetables; try various colours of the rainbow. Include a variety of sprouts, green leafy vegetables, and cruciferous vegetables. Alternate your non-gluten grains (buckwheat, quinoa, millet, teff, amaranth, brown rice, and wild rice) and starchy vegetables (sweet potato, squash, beets, and carrots). Try alternative plant-based protein such as beans, legumes, tempeh, hemp seeds, chia seeds, spirulina, and high protein grains such as quinoa and buckwheat and nuts and seeds.
20. Cooking Methods
Various cooking methods add variety to our meal repertoire. Raw is best, so try to eat your veggies raw as they contain the highest amount of nutrients in that form. Next best is steamed; steaming preserves many more nutrients than boiling foods does. Grilling adds variety and can be quick and easy since foods can cook in no time. Baking and broiling are both good and don’t produce free radicals but take a little longer for foods to cook. Last is sautéing. It is best to sauté with water, broth, wine, sauces, or coconut oil. Coconut oil has a higher tolerance to heat without causing free radical damage than some other oils.
Try these RAW food recipes to enhance your new lifestyle!
